1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a massaging garment capable of bringing about the effect of rubbing and kneading of at least one part of wearer's body. The garment of the invention has a particular utility in massaging the back of the wearer while walking.
2. Description of the prior art
In a modern and industrialize society, people are susceptible to the physical or a physiological illness caused by various factors such as work pressure, social pressure, family problems, etc. More and more people therefore are becoming increasingly interested in resorting to non-medical therapy, such as massage, to relieve pain, tension and fatigue. The art or massage is known to be effective in stimulating the circulatory system and making muscles or joins supple. There are a variety of massage apparatus that are available in the market today. However, people often feel that such massage apparatus are not practical in view of the fact that they afford only a temporary relief of pain and tension and that they cannot be conveniently used at any time and at any place.
There are two major categories of massage devices currently available on the market: passive devices and active devices. Passive devices act mostly to restrain and support various areas of the wearer's body. Examples of such passive devices as support and stabilizing belts are found in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,134 to Saunders; U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,055 to Sebastian; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,0202 by von Soiron. These belts are generally secured around the wearer's waist and act to support the lumbar or the lower back portion of the wearer's body. In some cases, they may include some elevated points on the surface of the belt or a garment in order to stimulate more blood flow in the area of the lower back such as described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,226 by Douady, U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,558 by Lo; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,922 by Curlee. However, they do not contain provisions allowing for active massage of the lower back area which is the most preferred way of relieving pain.
The second category of massaging devices include active massaging elements allowing for direct and continuous stimulation of the massaging area. They typically include vibration elements driven by various sources of external power, most commonly by electrical power. Examples of these devices can be found in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,125 by Tseng; U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,140 by Stoffregen; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,129 by Byars. The need for the electrical power source is the major limitation of these devices which makes them complex and difficult to use.
The need exists therefore for a simple massaging garment with the active massaging elements in which that garment does not require the use of any sources of external power.